Program

Day 2, Thursday, April 24

7:30-9:00 AM
Continental Breakfast/Roundtables

9:00-10:15
What Senior Management Should Know About Advancement Services
In January of 2007 Robert Weiner asked the following question on the FUNDSVCS discussion list: “What do you think are the top issues senior management needs to understand about your job or advancement services? These might include your pet peeves or your ongoing boss-education goals. I'm thinking of big-picture issues that would help with setting goals and expectations, recruitment and retention, keeping current with technology, working efficiently, stewarding donors and funds, working with other departments, and staying on the right side of the law.” The discussion that followed was lively and impassioned. Weiner reviews some of the top findings and leads a discussion of the hot-button issues.

10:30-11:45
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• What Does an A+ Gift Receiving Office Look Like? 
  Hosted by a senior advancement services professional with over 28 years of experience, this session provides insight into what it takes to have an A+ gift receiving office, i.e., staffing, policies, procedures, changing technology, and more.

• The Art and Science of the Prospect Assignment Process
  Explore both technical and non-technical components that support the prospect assignment process. Discussion includes developing and refining prospect policies, implementing assignment/de-assignment and “hot prospect” procedures and tracking mechanisms, as well as the soft, nontechnical skills required for a successful program.

• Performance Management: Looking at the Big Picture
  This session provides you the opportunity to look into your performance management area, specifically linking the day-to-day operations to the big picture.

11:45 AM-1:45 PM
Luncheon and Keynote Address
Motivate! Lead! Manage! Change! It All Begins with the "Wake-Up Call!"
Special Guest: Barbara Sexton Smith
Buckle your seat belt for the ride of your life as you listen to an unbelievable story of how little things can make a big difference.

1:45-3:00
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• Breaking Down the Bars: Implementing Bar Coding for Data Entry Speed and Accuracy
  In this session we will show the potential benefits of implementing bar coding in your gifts entry workflow. This can be a low cost solution that is easy to implement without any customization of your software. We will talk about the various types of bar codes and how to communicate your needs with your printer and how to set these up in in-house print operations. We will also show examples of the setup required on bar code readers and talk about testing and implementation. Bar coding has the potential to improve both the speed and accuracy of many data entry processes – join us to see that it’s easier than you might expect!

• Reporting: Simple, Yet Robust
  Numbers. We advancement services folks live in the world of numbers and data, but to many others in advancement and around your institution, those numbers are a crash course in Sanskrit without a CD-ROM from Rosetta Stone. Discuss how to work with others to develop the simple, yet robust reports to convey your information and help save your sanity as you won’t have to keep rewriting them over and over again.

• We Are Not the Back Room! Marketing Your Advancement Services Department
  Is your advancement services department often referred to as the “back room?” Is your department missing the respect you want and deserve? Discuss ways to ensure that your advancement services department is in front of the pack.

3:15-4:30
The Tale of the Tape: Measuring Fundraising Efforts and Outcomes
Explore ways for an advancement services organization to assist in accountability reporting for fundraisers. Topics include examining outcome and effort-based reports, partnering with your development office in the reporting process, and establishing meaningful and personal metrics of performance.

4:30-5:00
Faculty Firing Line

5:00
Conference Adjourns for the Day
Dinner On Your Own